Portland cement containing materials are commonly used in the construction industry for structural elements, including but not limited to mortar for bricks, concrete, and other masonry applications. Ideal conditions for preparing masonry exist at or above approximately 40° F. (4.4° C.); however, below this temperature (also known as “cold masonry”) masonry workers must use additional safe guards to enable masonry preparations that meet industry building standards. Cold masonry delays tooling and settling times of mixtures and results in a lower bonding strength, and for colored masonry, results in color inconsistencies. Cold masonry can also result in the water in the mortar freezing and disrupting the expansion process.
Current practices to enable masonry workers to work in conditions lower than 40° F. include 1) heating the sand or mixing water to reach a mortar temperature between 40° F. and 120° F. (4.4° C. and 48.9° C.) at the time of mixing; 2) heating materials to produce a grout temperature between 70° F. and 120° F. (21.1° C. and 48.9° C.) at the time of mixing; 3) heating masonry surfaces to at least 40° F. during construction; and 4) using enclosures and/or wind breaks to provide for an environment warm enough to properly prepare the masonry material.
Providing heated water to prepare masonry material can include use of a hot water tap or external heating of barrels of water, primarily with propane burners. As is typically practiced in the art, the propane burners project a flame on barrels of water. This practice poses several problems, including 1) inconsistent delivery of heat, such that the water temperature for mixing masonry is not controlled; 2) safety issues, as workers must prepare mixtures near an open flame; and 3) on particularly cold or windy days, the propane burners may not be able to deliver a flame for sufficient time to properly heat the mixing water. Additionally, the propane burners lose a lot of heat to ambient conditions, thus increasing the usage of propane and the cost.
The current methods used to provide heated water to prepare masonry materials allow for masonry construction projects to outside air temperatures of about 20° F. (−6.7° C.). However, at outside air temperatures of below 20° F., masonry construction projects become increasingly difficult. Most masonry construction projects do not occur at temperatures below 5° F. to 10° F. because of the difficulties discussed above.
The above problems with heating water to prepare masonry result in shorter working seasons, inefficient work times when on the site, and safety issues. Additionally, these problems lead to increased cost for preparing masonry during cold weather, inconsistent mixtures, poorer quality materials, and can result in additional cost to correct poorly bonded masonry or, in the case of colored masonry, correcting color variations. Therefore, a need exists to provide a method and apparatus to provide heated water for mixing masonry materials during cold weather that results in lower cost preparations, consistent material mixtures, increased worker safety, longer working seasons, and more efficient work times while on the site.
Construction sites may not necessarily have the water source adjacent to the equipment used to heat the water to mix the masonry materials. This results in having to transport the water needed for mixing masonry materials across a work site. This can cause further worker inefficiencies on a working day. Additionally, construction sites tend to have several persons, equipment and machinery in a limited space. It is common for several teams of workers to be present on the site. Therefore a need exists to provide for a space-efficient manner to contain the equipment needed for providing heated water to mix masonry materials.